Thread printing apparatus selector



Feb. 25, 1936. D. B. BONNER 2,032,043

THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS SELECTOR MECHANISM Filed Nov. '7, 1935 3Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYJ Feb. 25, 1936. a BONNER 2,032,043

THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS SELECTOR MECHANISM Filed Nov. 7, 1935 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE IVIEC HANISM Daniel Butler Bonner, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application November 7, 1935, Serial No. 48,650

18 Claims.

mechanism for controlling the rotation of the thread carrying drum ofapparatus of the above character to prescribed different printing posi-10 tions in which the selectors are automatically brought into selectiveposition in a simple and effective manner.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of ribboncontrolled selector mecha- '5, nism for apparatus of the classdescribed.

A more specific object of my invention resides in the provision of aselector wheel having yieldable selectors adapted to be automaticallypreselected through the medium of ribbon control.

20 A further object of my invention resides in the provision ofautomatic selector mechanism for apparatus of the class describedemploying a ribbon which is adapted to automatically effect preselectionof selector devices in the. order desired 25 as rotation of the threadcarrying drum of the apparatus progresses.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of ribboncontrolled selector mechanism which is adapted to effect pre-selectionof so; the selectors for a plurality of colors to be printed on thethread Without the necessity of changing ribbons for each color.

How the foregoing, together with such other objects and advantages asmay hereinafter ap- 35' pear, or are incident to my invention, arerealized is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of my improvedselector mechanism illustrated as 40 applied to thread printingapparatus such as disclosed in my above-mentioned patents;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of Figure 1 looking toward the left;

I Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sec- 45 tional view throughthe selector wheel, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating a 50 modification of myinvention; and

Figures 6 to 10 inclusive are fragmentary views illustrating anarrangement of apertures in the ribbon of the selector mechanism.

The thread printing apparatus disclosed com- 55 prises in general a drumA on which the thread is wound in a single layer composed of a number ofthreads extending for the width of the drum;

a printing carriage B adapted to travel back and forth in the axialdirection of the drum and having a printing roll C contacting with thelayer 5 of thread on the drum to print transverse stripes of colorthereon; driving mechanism D for rotating the drum when the printingmechanism is out of operation; and driving mechanism E for rotating thedrum in steps when printing is 10 being effected, all in the mannerdisclosed in my above previous patents.

The driving mechanism D may be referred to as a skipping mechanism or amechanism for imparting rotative movement to the drum of 5 greateramplitude than the step movement imparted to the drum by the drivingmechanism E. The drum A is rigidly secured to a shaft 6 which carries agear '7.

Referring first to the driving mechanism E for rotating the drum inuniform steps, i. e., in a plurality of intermittent rotative movements,it will be seen that such movement is imparted through the medium of apawl and ratchet device F. The device F comprises a ratchet wheel 8rigidly secured to a shaft 9 on which a pinion l0 meshing with the gear1 is splined. The ratchet wheel 8 is provided with evenly spaced ratchetteeth, in this particular instance one hundred and eight teeth beingprovided. A pawl II is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet ringand is operated to engage a tooth of the ring, rotate it with the drumthrough the medium of the pinion l0 meshing with the gear 1 a distanceequal to the spacing of the teeth, then ratchet back to engage the nexttooth, then ad- Vance the wheel and drum another notch, and so on. Thepawl H is operated from a cam l2 which actuates the pawl throughsuitable lever mechanism comprising a lever 13 pivoted at M to theframework of the machine and having a cam roller l5 at one endcontacting with the cam and connected adjacent its other end to an arml6 by means of a link H. The arm I6 is secured to a rock shaft l8 whichcarries a second upwardly extending arm l9 so that, in efiect, the armsI6 and I9 and rock shaft l8 constitute a bell crank iever.- The pawl l Iis pivotally mounted on an arm 26 mounted on the ratchet wheel shaft 9for oscillation and is connected to the arm ill by means of a link 2|.The cam lever I3 is maintained in engagement with the cam by means of aspring 22 secured at one end to the lever and at the other end to theframe of the machine. Two oppositely disposed depressions 23 areprovided in the cam surface so that the pawl is operated twice for eachrevolution of the cam.

The cam I2 is driven from a drive shaft 24 having a pinion 25 idlymounted thereon and meshing with a gear 26 secured on the cam shaft 21.A clutch G controls the pinion 25 for a purpose hereinafter appearing.The drive shaft 24 may be driven in any suitable manner as by means of adrive belt 28 and drive pulley 29. A clutch device H is provided forconnecting and disconnecting the pulley 29 with the drive shaft 24.

The printing carriage B is operated in back and forth movement by meansof a crank 30 and connecting rod 3!, the crank being carried by the camshaft 2? and the operationbeing after the manner disclosed in myabove-mentioned patents, from which it will be seen that when the camshaft rotates, the printing carriage with.

its printing roll traverses the face of the large drum A so that stripesof color are deposited by the printing roll which is in contact with thethread. It is pointed out that the cam [2, the crank 30, and the lengthof travel of the carriage relative to the width of the drum A are socalculated that the rotation of the drum by the mechanism E does notstart until the printing roll C is out of contact with the thread and iscompleted before the roll again contacts with the thread.

The apparatus as thus far described would only take care of printing amultiplicity of transverse stripes across the layer of threads, thespacing of which would correspond to the spacing of the teeth of theratchet wheel 8, and with close spacing of the teeth would result insubstantially solid coloring of the layer of thread. However, since I-propose. to print stripes of different colors on the layer of thread invarious arrangements according to the requirements for producing adesired design in the material into which the thread is ultimately to befabricated, I have provided mechanisms cooperating with the above tomake this possible. For example, it may be desired to employ fourdifferent colors'brown, green, old rose, and blackand the ultimatedesign to be produced may require that the layer of thread be" printedwith three stripes of brown, followed by three stripes of green, twostripes of old rose, three stripes of brown, two stripes of black,'threestripes of green, two stripes of black, three stripes of brown, twostripes of old rose, three stripes of green, three stripes of brown, andso on.

In order to accomplish this I print all of the stripes of one color intheir proper spacing for the entire circumference of the drum. This, ofcourse, means that spaces must be left between the stripes of theparticular color being printed to accommodate the remaining colors. Themeans for selecting the points where stripes are to be printed and forcausing skipping where spaces are to be left, will be describedpresently; After having printed one color I lift out the removable well32 and its printing roll, and insert a roll and well containing thecoloring liquid of the next color to be printed, and then resumeprinting stripes of this color in proper spacing relative to the firststripes which were printed, and so on until all of the colors have beenprinted.

The selector or control mechanism just above referred to comprises aselector wheel 33 which may be integral with the ratchet wheel 8, aplurality of selector pins 34 carried by the selector wheel, and ribbonmeans indicated as a whole by the reference letter K. The selector pins34 are mounted in radially disposed holes 35 in the rim portion of theselector wheel, the holes being located from the teeth of the ratchetwheel 8 and. there being one hole for each tooth. The pins 34 arespring-projected from the face of the wheel by means of springs 36engaging shoulder portions 37 provided on the pins. The other ends ofthe springs engage a ring 38 which may be secured in place asby means ofscrews 39. The pins 34 are limited in their outward movement by means ofthe shoulder portions 3'lengaging the reduced portions of the holes 35.

The selector pins 34 are set into selective position bymeans of theribbon device K which comprises a ribbon 43, preferably made of metal,which is unwound from a reel or magazine 4! and passed over the selectorwheel 33 and then led to the winding-up reel 42. A guide roller 43 isprovided between the reel 4! and the selector wheel, and. the selectorwheel is provided with a peripheral groove 44 to laterally position theribbon on the wheel. A plurality of evenly spaced holes 45 are providedadjacent one edge of the ribbon for engagement with dowel pins 46carried by the wheel and equally spaced circumferentially thereof. Inthis instance, I have illustrated four such dowels in the selector wheeland the dowel holes 45 in the ribbon are correspond ingly spaced. Thesedowels serve to pull the ribbon over the selector wheel as it rotates.

The reel 42 is provided for winding up the ribbon after it passes overthe selector wheehand is driven as by means of a belt drive comprising abelt 41, a pulley 48 secured to the shaft 49 on which the reel 42 ismounted, a belt tightening pulley 50; rotatively mounted adjacent oneend of an arm M which is pivoted at 52, a lower idler. pulley 53, and apulley 54 secured on the shaft 9 and of substantially the same diameteras the selector wheel 33. It will thus be seen that drive is imparted tothe reel 42 from the selector wheel shaft 9 in a direction to wind upthe ribbon. In order to compensate for the increase in diameter of theribbon as it is wound onto the reel 42, I have provided means forslipping the belt which comprises the arm 5| and pulley 50 justmentioned and a pulley 55 rotatively mounted adjacent the end of thelever 5! opposite the end at which the pulley 5G is mounted. This pulley55 rides on the ribbon 43 and is spring-pressed thereagainst by means ofa spring 56 which'is secured at one end to a fixed part of the machineand at the other end to the lever 5|. It will thus be seen that as thereel 42 tends to wind up the ribbon faster than the rate at which itleaves the selector wheel, the run of ribbon between the selector wheeland the reel will become tensioned, thus causing the upper end of thelever 5| to move to the right and the lower end to the left, whichloosens the belt accordingly and allows slippage to take place and thusprevents breaking of the ribbon; In order to prevent the ribbon fromunwinding off the reel 4! too fast, I employ a friction brake 51'adapted to be adjusted as by means of a bolt 53. The reels 4! and 42 areprovided with square holes adapted to fit the squared portions of theirshafts 59 and 49, respectively.

The ribbon 40 is provided with a plurality of holes 6!] which are spacedtherealong to correspond to the spacing of the stripes of color to beprinted on the drum. As the ribbon is passed over the selector wheel,these holes register with corresponding pins and allow them to projectthrough the ribbon, as indicated in Figures 1, 3,

and 4, while the remaining pins which do not (3 register with holes areheld in retracted or depressed position by the blank or imperforateportions of the ribbon.

Assuming now that it is desired to print the thread in four colors inaccordance with the example given above, then the first portion of theribbon is provided with holes corresponding to the brown stripes to beprinted as illustrated in Figure 6, in which, starting from the bottom,there are three holes spaced to correspond tothe spacing of the pins onthe selector wheel so that three pins will be spring pressed orprojected therethrough, then a blank section for depressing the nextfive pins, then three holes from which the next three pins project, thena blank section for depressing the next seven pins, then three holesthrough which the next three pins project, then a blank section fordepressing the next five pins, and then three holes through which thenext three pins project and so on as illustrated. In order to readilysee from inspection of Figures 6 to 10, inclusive, how many pins aredepressed by the blank sections of the ribbon between apertures, I haveindicated the depressed pins by dots. In Figure 6, the portion of theribbon which extends between the lines X and Y is equal to thecircumference of the selector wheel 33 and by the time this portion ofthe ribbon has traversed the selector wheel the particular arrangementsof stripes exemplified has been repeated twice on the thread carried bythe drum. The selector wheel makes six revolutions to one revolution ofthe drum and, therefore, an amount of tape equal to six times thecircumference of the selector wheel will traverse the wheel and theparticular arrangement of stripes just referred to will be repeatedtwelve times for the circumference of the drum. Following this portionof the ribbon there is another section or portion which is equal to sixtimes the circumference of the selector wheel in which the holes arearranged to correspond to the arrangement of the stripes of green whichare to be printed on the threads. The next section of ribbon equal tosix times the circumference of the selector wheel has the holes arrangedto correspond to the arrangement of the stripes of old rose which are tobe printed on the threads and the final section or portion of the ribbonequal to six times the circumference of the selector wheel has the holesarranged to correspond to the arrangement of the stripes of black whichare to be printed on the threads. In Figures '7, 8, 9 and 10, shortsections of each of these four portions of the ribbon are illustratedwith the holes shown in their relative positions, although it is to beunderstood that the particular ribbon illustrated in Figure 1 is of onecontinuous piece and includes holes properly arranged to effect printingof all four colors.

When setting the machine for operation, the ribbon is unrolled from thereel 4| until the first hole therein registers with the pin 34a which isadjacent the roller 6! of a trip arm Bid and a brown ink-well and rollerare placed in the printing carriage. The operator then moves theoperating bar 62 to cause engagement of the clutch H which effects drivefrom the pulley 29 to the shaft 24. As has been pointed out above, theshaft 24 carries the loose pinion 25 adapted to be drivingly connectedto the shaft by means of the clutch device G and this pinion meshes withthe gear 26 secured to the cam shaft 27. The drive shaft 24 carries asecond loose pinion 63 meshing with a gear 64 mounted to freely rotateon the cam shaft 21. A sprocket wheel 65 is secured to the gear 64 anddrive is transmitted from this gear to a shaft 66 located therebelow bymeans of the sprocket wheel 65, chain 6! and sprocket wheel 68. Theshaft 66 has a bevel gear 69 rigidly secured thereon which meshes with abeveled gear 10 rigidly secured to the ratchet wheel shaft 9. A clutchdevice J is provided for the purpose of drivingly connecting the pinion63 to the shaft 24.

It will thus be seen that when the clutches H and J are engaged drive istransmitted from the shaft 24 to the drum A through the medium of thepinion B3, gear 64, sprocket 65, chain 61, sprocket wheel 63, bevelgears es and Hi, pinion I0 and drum gear I, it being pointed out thatthe pinion Hi is moved into mesh with the gear I when printingoperations are to take place as by means of a shaft arm 7 I. Theclutches G and J above mentioned are controlled by the selectormechanism as will now appear.

Referring, now, more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the selector wheel33 is shown in a position so that a space of the wheel where no pinsproject is presented to the roller of the trip arm Ela. With the triparm 61a in the position illustrated the clutch J will be engaged and theclutch G disengaged because of the following provisions. The trip armBia is pivoted at 12 and the end portion thereof which is opposite theroller 64 engages a roller 13 carried by the lever 74 which is pivotedat 15. At the other end this lever is connected to a pivoted arm 16 bymeans of a link Fl. The arm 76 is pivoted at 18 and has its free endforked to straddle a pin 19 carried by the lever 86 mounted to pivot ona rock shaft 8| carried by a bracket 82. The rock shaft 81 also has aclutch operating yoke 83 secured thereon for operating the movablemember of the clutch G.

The lever is provided with an inclined slot 84 at its upper end adaptedto receive a roller 85 mounted on a movable bar 86. The bar 86 ismounted to reciprocate in a lever arm 9'. which is secured to the rockshaft 8! to rock therewith. The movable member of the clutch G isconnected to the movable member of the clutch J by means of a strap-likemember 88.

Following through the mechanism just described and assuming that the.selector wheel 33 is rotating in the direction of the arrow of Figure 1,it will be seen that when the projecting pin 3 ia engages the roller (iiof the trip arm 6 la the trip arm is rocked in a direction to cause theupper portion of the lever 80 to move to the right so that the roller 85and bar 36 are moved downwardly. When this bar moves downwardly itclears a pair of cams 89 carried by the cam shaft gear 26 and as soon asthe clearance afforded by the slot 90 in the arm 8'! is taken up by thedownward movement of the bar 86, the arm 8! is rotated to the right,thus causing the rock shaft 8! and clutch yoke 83 to move in the samedirection and thereby cause the clutch G to become engaged. Uponengagement of the clutch G the pinion 25 is clutched to the shaft 24 toreceive drive therefrom, so that the pinion will rotate the gear 26 andthe pawl and ratchet device F is operated in the manner hereinbeforedescribed. At the same time that the clutch G is thus engaged the clutchJ is disengaged because of the connecting member 88 and the aboveratchet operation of the drum continues as long as projecting selectorpins are presented to the trip arm Bla and in the case of only one pinbeing presented at a time only one ratchet movement would take place ata time. On the other hand, if pins are located in successive holes, asthe first three pins are in this instance, three successive ratchetmovements take place so that the drum is rotated step by step for threesteps with the clutch J disengaged and the clutch G engaged, and theprinting carriage B is operated to travel back and forth and the drum isrotated by ratchet or step-by-step movement, all as above described, itbeing noted that the drive shaft 24 is common to both devices 13 and E.

As soon as the third of these first three pins passes the roller of thetrip arm Bla the trip arm is returned to the position illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, which causes the bar 86 to move upwardly u'nderinfluence of a spring 9| and in which position the bar will be in thepath of the cams 89. As soon as the cam surface of the nearest cam comesaround it engages the bar 86 and positively rocks the lever arm 81,lever 89 and clutch yoke 83 and their associated parts in a direction todisengage the clutch G and engage the clutch J. The cams 89 are alsoprovided with stop shoulders adapted to engage the block to stop thewheel 26 and then rotation of the drum is caused by the pinion I9 anddrum gear 1, the pinion l9 receiving its drive from the shaft 24 throughthe medium of the transmission above described.

With the stopping of the wheel 26 the back and. forth motion of theprinting carriage is stopped as is also the intermittent or step-bystepmovement of the drum. 8, and the drum rotates in continuous movementuntil another selector pin is presented to theroller BI and the leverBla. Thus it will be seen that the drum is rotated relatively fast fromone position of print to the next by means of the skipping mechanismjust described. By referring to Figure 6 it will be seen that there areconsiderable blank spaces where no prints are to take place and,therefore, the time required to apply all the prints to the drum ismaterially shortened over the time it would take if ratchet movementwere employed throughout the operation. After one color has been printedfor a complete revolution of the drum the machine is automaticallystopped as by means of an electro-magnetically operated latch device 92which controls the clutch H as illustrated in Figure 1. When the drumhas made .a complete revolution the contact 93 carried by the drumengages the fixed contact 94 to energize the electromagnet 95, thuscausing the latch 92 to be retracted. The bar 62 is then spring pulledto the left to release the clutch H and stop the machine. The wheel andink roll are then replaced by a Well and roll for the next color and themachine is again started by pulling the clutch bar 62 tothe right whichsets the latch device 92 to the position shown in Figure 1. Since theribbon id is of a length to accommodate holes for all of the colors tobe printed the portion thereof which has been perforated for the nextcolor now operates on the selector wheel and the stripes for this colorare selected and printed in the same manner as above described.

Although I have given an example in which four colors are employed andprinted in a certain order it is to be understood that a greater or lessnumber of colors may be employed and printed ,in any order desired toproduce any particular arrangement of color stripes on the thread, it

or the gearing for the selector wheel is such that the ratchet wheel 8makes six revolutions to one revolution of the drum and, therefore, ifthe ratchet wheel is provided with one hundred and eight teeth as abovementioned, the drum A will be moved to six hundred and forty-eightdifferent printing positions in one of its revolutions.

Referring to the modification illustrated in Figure 5, I have thereinillustrated an arrangement in which an endless selector ribbon 96 istion. When this type of ribbon is employed after stripes of one colorhave been printed on the drum the ribbon is removed and a similar ribbonhaving perforationscorresponding to the stripes of the next color to beprinted is inserted in place thereof. The operation of the machine withthis ribbon is the same as with the ribbon 40 above described. 1

I claim:

1. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying Y drum, drive means for imparting'step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of a selector wheel, selector devicescarried by said wheel, and means for automatically pre-selectihgselector devices to operate said control means to effect rotation of thedrum through the medium of either of said drive means.

2. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means for detera 3.In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having a rotatablethread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-st ep rotationto the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive means forimparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances of greateramplitude than such step movement, and control means for said drivemeans; the combination of automatic selective means for determiningwhich movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising a selectorwheel, selector devices carried by said wheel for operating said controlmeans,

and ribbon means for setting the selector devices in predeterminedsetting.

4. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distancesiofsgreater amplitude than such stepmovineriuand control means for saiddrive means: the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, yieldable selector pins carried by said wheel foroperating said control means, and a movable ribbon having holes thereinof predetermined spacing registering with pins to be set in selectiveposition.

5. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, spring pressed selector pins circularly arranged on saidwheel to normally project therefrom and effect operation of said controlmeans, and a movable perforated ribbon associated with said wheel andpins and adapted to hold the pins located between perforations inretracted position and to permit pins registering with the perforationstomove into projected position.

6. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, spring pressed selector pins circularly arranged on saidwheel to normally project therefrom and effect operation of said controlmeans, a movable ribbon associated with said wheel and pins, and holesin said ribbon registering with corresponding pins, said ribbon beingadapted to permit said registering pins to project and to holdnon-registering pins in retracted position.

7. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having a threadcarrying drum, and means for rotating said drum; the combination of arotatable selector wheel, a plurality of spring projected selector pinsmounted circumferentially of said wheel in equal spacing, and anapertured ribbon passing over said wheel, the number of apertures andthe relative location thereof being predetermined, said ribbon inpassing over said wheel permitting pins which register with theapertures to be spring projected and holding the non-registering pins inretracted position, and means controlling the rotation of said drumrotating means through the medium of said selector pins.

8. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having a threadcarrying drum, and means for rotating said drum; the combination of aselector Wheel, spring projected selector pins carried by said wheel, anapertured ribbon passing over said wheel for holding certain of saidpins in retracted position and enabling other pins to be spring pressedinto selective position, means controlling the rotation of said drumrotating means through the medium of said selector pins, a reel ontowhich said ribbon is wound after passing over said wheel, driving meansfor rotating said reel to Wind up the ribbon, and means for efiectingslippage between said driving means and said reel.

9. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having a threadcarrying drum, and means for rotating said drum; the combination of aselector wheel, spring projected selector pins carried by said wheel, anapertured ribbon passing over said wheel for holding certain of saidpins in retracted position and enabling other pins to be spring pressedinto selective position, means controlling the rotation of said drumrotating means through the medium of said selector pins, a reel ontowhich said ribbon is wound after passing over said wheel, driving meansfor rotating said reel to wind up the ribbon, and means operable by saidribbon for efiecting slippage of said driving means.

10. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having a threadcarrying drum, and means for rotating said drum; the combination of aselector wheel, spring projected selector pins carried by said wheel, anapertured ribbon passing over said Wheel for holding certain of saidpins in retracted position and enabling other pins to be spring pressedinto selective position, means controlling the rotation of said drumrotating means through the medium of said selector pins, a reel ontowhich said ribbon is wound after passing over said wheel, driving meansfor rotating said reel to wind up the ribbon, and means operable by saidribbon and governed by the tension on the ribbon for efiecting slippageof said driving means proportional to the tension on the ribbon.

11. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and

control means for said drive means; the combination of automaticselective means for determining which movement is to be imparted to thedrum comprising a selector wheel, selector devices carried by said wheelfor operating said control means, and endless ribbon means for settingthe selector devices in predetermined setting.

12. Selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus comprising aselector wheel, a plurality of selector pins mounted circumferentiallyof said wheel in equal spacing, springs associated with said pinsnormally urging them into projected position, a ribbon passing over saidwheel having apertures registering with certain pins to permit them tobe spring projected and having blank portions between the apertures tohold nonregistering pins in retracted position, and clutch meansactuated by said projecting selector pins.

13. Selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus comprising aselector wheel, a plurality of selector pins mounted circumferentiallyof said wheel in equal spacing, springs associated with said pinsnormally urging them into projected position, a ribbon passing over saidwheel having apertures registering with certain pins to permit them tobe spring projected and having blank portions between the apertures tohold non-registering pins in retracted position, clutch means actuatedby said projecting selector pins, means on said selector wheel engagingthe ribbon for moving the ribbon over said wheel, and take up reel meansfor winding up the ribbon after it passes over the wheel.

14. Selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus comprising aselectorwheel, a plurality of selector pins mounted circumferentially ofsaid wheel in equal spacing, springs associated with said pins normallyurging them into projected position, a ribbon passing over said wheelhaving apertures registering with certain pins to permit them to bespring projected and having blank portions between the apertures to holdnon-registering pins in retracted position, clutch means actuated bysaid projecting selector pins, means on said selector wheel engaging theribbon for moving the ribbon over said wheel, and take up reel means forwinding up the ribbon after it passes over the wheel, said reel meansincluding slippage means compensating for the increase in diameter ofthe ribbon wound on the reel.

15. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, selector devices carried by said wheel for operatingsaid control means, endless ribbon means for setting the selector.devices in predetermined setting, and. means on said selector wheelengaging the ribbon for moving the ribbon over said wheel.

16. In selector mechanism for thread printing'apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-bysteprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, selector devices carried by said wheel for operatingsaid control means, endless ribbon means for setting the selectordevices in -pre= determined setting, means on said selector wheelengaging the ribbon for moving the ribbon over said wheel, and tensionmeans for holding the ribbon in driving engagement with the selectorwheel. 7

17. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means for determining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising a selectorwheel, yieldable selector pins carried by said wheel for operating saidcontrol means, anda movable ribbon having holes therein of predeterminedspacing registering with pins to be set in selective position, saidribbon being of a length to accommodate holes for the setting ofselector pins to effect the printing of stripes for a plurality ofcolors;

18. In selector mechanism for thread printing apparatus having arotatable thread carrying drum, drive means for imparting step-by-steprotation to the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, drive meansfor imparting continuous rotation to the drum through distances ofgreater amplitude than such step movement, and control means for saiddrive means; the combination of automatic selective means fordetermining which movement is to be imparted to the drum comprising aselector wheel, yieldable selector pins carried by said wheel foroperating said control means, and a movable ribbon having holes thereinof predetermined spacing registering with pins to be set in selectiveposition, said ribbon being of a length to accommodate holes for thesetting of selector pins to'effect the printing of stripes for aplurality of colors, together with means for automaticallystopping theapparatus after all of the stripes of acolor have been printed on thethread.

DANIEL BUTLER BONNER.

